Tramway-rail.



J. H. BRIGGS.

TRAMWAY RAIL.

APPLICATION FILED 1123.7, 1909.

944,982. Patented Dec.28,1909.

-e d z oz f wrruessss I v m v time JAMES HAINSWORTI-I BRIGGS, OFHEADINGLEY, LEEDS, ENGLAND.

TRAMWAY RAIL.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES HAINSWORTI-I BRIGGS, a subject of the King ofGreat Brit ain, residing at 13 Olaremont road, Headingley, Leeds, in theWest- Riding of Yorkshire, England, ironmonger, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in lramway-Itails, of which the following isa specification.

The object of the present invention is to minimize the formation oflateral or trans verse corrugations on the running surface of tram railsof the simple girder type commonly employed in ordinary road tram linesin the heads of which rails there are grooves or recesses to receive theflange of the wheels, and with this object the rails, over the wholelength of the tram line or such portions as may be liable tocorrugation, are so constructed that if the vehicle wheels tend to climbthe crown of the rail in the manner referred to in the specification toLetters Patent No. 904174 of 1908 grant-ed to the present applicanteither from the cause therein specified or by the wheel flange climbingthe check, or for other similar reason, this action will necessarilytake place on a comparatively unsupported part of the rail head and anysuch climbing tendency instead of causing the wheel to rise as atpresent will, by concentration of weight on the inner side of the railhead, result in depressing this part of the rail in such a manner that,although the rail deflection is of small amount, the wheel cannot obtainthe foot-hold which is necessary for climbing, thus allowing the wheelto run evenly on the outer or rigidly supported part of the rail tread.Consequently with rails so constructed that the inner side yields in themanner described, the wheel does not climb the rail at all, and lateralcorrugation of the rail surface due to this cause is obviated.Accordingly, by the present invention such tram rails are rolled orotherwise constructed so that the inner side of the rail tread tends toyield under abnormal distribution of the wheel load so that the loadwill be thrown on that part of the crown of the rail which is moredirectly supported by the web or at all events will be fairlydistributed over the tread surface, this deflection of the comparativelyunsupported or inner side of the rail necessarily eliminating anypossibility of climbing. In the preferred construction this result isobtained by rolling the Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April '7, 1909.

Patented Dec. 28, 1909.

Serial No. 488,475.

rails with the central vertical plane of the web outside the verticalplane through the medial line of the tread surface of the rail crown,thereby leaving the inner side of the rail head less supported by therail web than the outer side, and the resulting flexibility may beenhanced and confined to that re gion by making the rail web of reducedthickness near the top on the inner side or (which comes to the samething) making the web with vertical reinforcing corrugations or ribswhich do not extend quite to the top of the web.

Instead ofthe web being as a whole on the outer side of the medial planeof the rail tread, it may be bent laterally or otherwise so formed thatonly the upper portion of the web lies on the outer side of this plane;for example an ordinary tramway rail can be converted into a rail suchas contemplated in the present invention in which the junction of theweb and the crown of the rail lies on the outer side of the medial planeof the rail tread by a horizontal or inclined longitudinal slot in thebody of the rail head which slot in transverse section extends from theinner side of the rail head toward the outer side and preferably beyondthe medial plane of the rail tread. If the web as a whole is displacedto the outer side as described, the resulting flexibility, which shouldbe confined as far as possible to the upper part Of the web, may beaugmented by a longitudinal slot in the body of the rail head on theinner side of the web, but in this case the slot need not be horizontalor inclined toward the outer side of the rail but may be vertical. Inall these various modifications, however, the underlying principle isthe same, viz: to construct the rail with the web and crown in suchrelation to each other that lateral shifting of the load toward theinner side of the rail head will produce a substantially verticaldeflection of the inner side of the rail head with the result alreadymentioned.

In illustration of the invention a number of rail sections embodying myinvention are shown in the drawings appended to this specification.

In Figure 1 the upright rail web a is shown as immediately beneath theextreme outer side Z) of the rail crown, the inner side 12 thereof beingthus overhung to a very considerable extent; Z2 denotes the recess orgroove formed in the rail head to receive the flange of the wheels. Fig.2 shows the rail I web and crown in the same relation but with the railweb formed with vertical corrugations or ribs a on the inner sideextending from the foot 0 of the rail toward but short of the junctionof the web and head. Such corrugations may be formed on both sides andmay extend over the entire depth of the web, although usually on theinner side they would be as shown in Fig. 2. Instead of the web being inthe extreme outer position shown in Figs. 1 and 2 it may of course be inany position intermediate between that and the central position, namely,with the medial planes of the web and tread coincident.

Figs. 1 and 2 are sections similar to Figs. 1 and 2, but with alongitudinal slot or groove (Z extending along the under side of therail crown close to the inner side of the web.

In Fig. 3 while the lower part of the web a is substantially coplanarwith the middle line of the tread, the upper part is bent outwardly sothat the central plane of the junction between crown and web lies on theouter side of the center of the rail tread. The flexibility in the neckmay be increased if necessary by thinning it as indicated in dottedlines at e in Figs. 1, 1, 2, 2, 3 and at.

Fig. 4: shows a rail with crown and web in the ordinary relationgeometrically but with an inclined longitudinal slot f in the rail headwhich in effect gives a result equivalent to that obtained by formingthe rail as shown in Fig. 3.

It will be seen that with rails constructed in the manner described, alateral shifting of the wheel load toward the inner side of the headproduces a deflection of the inner side without simultaneously raisingthe outer side, either at all or to any sensible extent, and furtherthat this deflection of the inner side is substantially vertical andinvolves little or no sidewise movement of f the inner side of the treadin the direction 1 of the wheel flange such as would arise for foot, anupright web and a head having a groove to accommodate a wheel flange,said web and head being disposed with the central plane of the web atits unction with the rail head on the outer side of the central line ofthe rail tread; substantially as described.

2. A tram rail of the girder type comprising a foot, a web and a head,said web and head being disposed with the central plane of the web atits junction with the rail head on the outer side of the center line ofthe rail tread, and said web being weakened locally on its inner sideadjacent to the junction with the rail head.

3. A tram rail of the girder type comprising a foot, a web and a head,said rail being slotted longitudinally throughout its length on itsinner side near the unction of the rail head with the web substantiallyas and for the purpose specified.

et. A tram rail of the girder type comprising a foot, a web and a head,said rail having an upwardly and outwardly inclined longitudinal slot onits inner side near the junction of the rail head with the web,substantially as described.

5. A girder rail, having a foot, a web extending upwardly from thecenter of the foot, and a head connected to the upper end of the web andhaving a tread and guard, the tread and guard being on the same side ofthe center of the web as the junction of the web and head; substantiallyas described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

JAMES HAINSWOR'IH BRIGGS.

Vitnesses ROBERT VILLIAM \VA'rsoN, C. E. TAYLOR.

